The burglars were determined not be caught, taking measures such as putting on surgical gloves so they wouldn't leave any fingerprints when they broke into businesses.

But they couldn't escape the omnipresent camera.

The average person can hardly go anywhere in public these days without being seen by one video camera or another. And police are making the most of that.

Investigators knew the same group was responsible for more than a dozen early morning break-ins of service stations, convenience stores and other businesses in nine Berks County municipalities in the spring.

Identifying the burglars, however, was another matter.

On two nights in late April and early May, burglars broke into four businesses along Penn Avenue in Sinking Spring and Spring Township.

Police caught a break when one of the businesses' surveillance cameras captured crisp images that showed the faces of two men during one of the burglaries.

With bandannas around their necks, the two apparently didn't realize they were being recorded on video as they approached the entrance of the Sunoco service station at 4563 Penn Ave. in Sinking Spring.

Law enforcement sources say cameras have become an important investigative resource, helping to solve bank and convenience store robberies, burglaries, shootings and other crimes. Video is also used as evidence in serious auto crashes, pedestrian accidents and fatalities on railroad rights of way.

"The first thing we ask for when we go to burglaries or robberies is if they have surveillance cameras," said Officer Lee K. Schweyer, Sinking Spring acting police chief. "We ask for a copy of the tape or CD image and go from there."

Sinking Spring police shared the images from the Sunoco break-in with several other departments and state police, and eventually the media.

The crime was featured in the June 5 Reading Eagle as the Crime Alert Berks County Inc. crime of the week, which offers a cash reward for information leading to an arrest.

An anonymous caller indicated that Damion Roy, 27, of Reading was one of the men in a surveillance image.

Through a joint investigation with several departments and troopers, police identified the other suspect as John M. Abel Jr., 25, of the 100 block of Killian Drive, Robeson Township. Roy of the 300 block of Pear Street and Abel were arrested and charged with multiple counts of burglary and conspiracy.

"This culminated in solving 13 burglaries all over the county," Schweyer said. "It all started with the picture we put in the paper of our burglary in Sinking Spring."

Schweyer said investigators were aided by the clarity of the images, the best his department has seen.

Paying big dividends

The Sunoco station invested more than $10,000 for the high-tech surveillance system, said Kevin Davidson, a former police officer and store detective who oversees the store's surveillance system.

His wife, Tracee Davidson, manages a home heating oil delivery business, Pipeline Petroleum, that operates under the same roof as the Sunoco.

Kevin Davidson said the surveillance system is useful for catching people who drive off without paying at the fuel pumps, and for credit card fraud.

The Davidsons got a call at home from Sinking Spring police about 20 minutes after the burglary. Kevin quickly reviewed the video.

"I saw the guys breaking in and downloaded it onto a jump drive and handed it to police right away," he said.

Within an hour or so of the burglary, police had an image that they could pass out to other departments.

Less time lag

As the technology of surveillance systems improves, so does the speed at which security personnel and police can get access to surveillance video.

A process that used to take days or weeks under older systems - some of which remain in use - is today almost instantaneous, said Exeter Township Police Detective Michael Godshall.

In the past, if a bank in the township was robbed, police would have to wait for a security official in Philadelphia or another state to travel to the branch before they could view the downloaded video. Now, many systems allow security personnel to view the video from a laptop computer or smartphone.

"It's a great thing," Godshall said. "Technology is wonderful. Along with the Internet we have a very vast contact list. We share information very quickly in a very large area."

Multiple angles

Reading has installed dozens of cameras in high-crime areas and downtown, and those images can be viewed in the control room in City Hall. Investigators often use images to identify robbery and shooting suspects.

A recent homicide on a Penn Street parking lot in Reading is a good example.

Although city detectives are still working to identify suspects, they won't have to rely on often unreliable witness descriptions of the suspects and getaway vehicle, said Sgt. John M. Solecki of the criminal investigations division.

A camera nearby recorded the actual crime, and detectives were able to follow the getaway car, which was parked on the opposite side of the street, from the vantage points of two city cameras.

City police often use video provided by homeowners, as more and more residences have cameras installed to deter crime, Solecki said.

Sometimes the best pictures come from a camera of a business or home that just happens to record all or part of a crime.

"Most law enforcement agencies know how many of the businesses in their jurisdiction have cameras," Godshall said. "If we know there's a crime nearby we'll come in and say, 'Can we look at your video?' I never heard of a business that wasn't more than happy to do that."